Turning pomegranates into gold 03 Aug 2006
30 comments Latest by mohammad
Here’s a juicy little article from Newsweek on how a husband-and-wife team used clever marketing — and health claims — to turn a relatively unknown-to-most-Americans fruit into liquid gold. According to the market-data firm Information Resources, Inc., annual sales of POM juice have risen from $12 million in 2003 to $91 million today.
The husband and wife team sure seem to have a knack for success:
They originally bought up farmland in California’s San Joaquin Valley in the ’80s at bargain prices and now operate America’s largest acreage of tree crops, growing 20 percent of Sunkist’s oranges, as well as almonds and pistachios.
They also turned around the Franklin Mint:
After buying the Franklin Mint in 1984, the couple took the company beyond the souvenir-medallion niche by launching 1,500 new products, from $100 Rolls-Royce replicas to $4,800 Faberge-style eggs.
And a couple years ago they bought Fuji Water:
Two years ago, the couple’s holding company, Roll International, bought Fiji Water for a reported $150 million. The water already came in the signature square bottle, but Lynda tweaked the marketing pitch from the bland “A Taste of Paradise” to “Untouched by Human Hands. Until You Drink It.” Sales jumped 67 percent in the past year, according to IRI.
But my favorite part of the article comes at the end. The article says competition is getting fierce. Since early last year, 350 new beverages using pomegranate have hit the market. But Lynda Resnick says the couple isn’t worried:
“I’ve never been concerned with competitors,” she says. “Execution is everything in life.”
30 comments so far (Jump to latest)
Caleb Elston 03 Aug 06
Plus the bottle is so sexy.
Keeran 03 Aug 06
That last message is something which seems to be said a lot, yet I don’t think enough people listen to the message. A lot like anti smoking messages on cigarette packages. People who are *doing* say “execution is everything”, yet there are thousands if not millions of people ‘with ideas’ (myself included) who still don’t get it. Gotta keep pushing!
BTW, you linked to page 2 of the article!
Ryan 03 Aug 06
working?
John Beales 03 Aug 06
I don’t think they’ll have to really worry about competition for a while - of the 350 new pomegranate beverages very few of them have much more than a miniscule amount - but their drink seems to be almost pure.
Plus the bottle is great.
Dan Boland 03 Aug 06
John Beales touched on the determining factor — the packaging. It’s brilliant. It’s iconic yet functional — each “bubble” represents a serving. Without the bottle, none of this success happens.
brad 03 Aug 06
The “execution is everything” resonates with David Pogue’s post today in his NY Times blog, where he talks about the incredible customer service of Crutchfield, the audio/video electronics company. You have to read it to believe it!
brad 03 Aug 06
Oh and you know how some dogs look like their owners? I think this is a case of a product (the bottle) looking like its owner. The side-by-side photos of Lynda Resnick and her juice bottle are just too similar.
Doug 03 Aug 06
The new POM tea comes in a reusable bottle that is awesome. Quickly reminded me of some friends that used jelly jars for juice glasses.
Mike Sigers 03 Aug 06
I actually buy some of the Pomegranate Green Tea and make iced tea out of it. Might as well drink healthy tea…
JF 03 Aug 06
The new POM tea comes in a reusable bottle that is awesome.
YES, I *love* that. That is fucking brilliant. One of the best ideas I’ve seen in many many years. So obvious once you see it.
"D" 03 Aug 06
Clasisc examples of Marketing 101: ” SELL THE SIZZLE NOT THE STEAK!”
"D" 03 Aug 06
Classic examples of Marketing 101: ” SELL THE SIZZLE NOT THE STEAK!”
pwb 03 Aug 06
D, can you elaborate?
b 03 Aug 06
love the POM, it’s Fiji Water btw.
Ross Brow 03 Aug 06
What did PT Barnum say? Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. Kudos to the Resniks. That point about execution is spot on.
Arnie McKinnis 04 Aug 06
OOPS! Put my comment on the wrong article - but I believe they also own Teleflora - a FTD type company that supports florists.
Richard Caetano 04 Aug 06
I’ve worked for that company for 3 years…everything they do is big. They seem to have a nack for picking the right businesses.
Clair Ching 04 Aug 06
This is interesting. I am not from America so I don’t know of this product. In any case, she got that right: execution is everything. One should not just be content thinking of ideas but one must pursue them. It might not be easy all the time and one might get tired but one must go on. That was an awesome article!
jet 04 Aug 06
Fuji or Fiji?
yuck. 04 Aug 06
It definitely is a marketing success story, as the juice itself is pretty foul. What’s the message here? That if you spend $29M on “scientific research” and product placement on Desperate Housewives, that you’ll increase sales of an otherwise lame product?
Phil 05 Aug 06
So not to spoil the fun, but isn’t this the same Stewart Resnick that owns the Paramount group of ag. companies?
They operate some of the largest farms in California — mostly high-value tree crops like citrus and almonds. They’ve been actively gaming water policy in the state for years, and have been very succesful in appropriating public infrastructure for their personal gain.
So this is a very nice puff piece, but it’s not exactly about a husband-wife team who defy the odds with good taste and good marketing. Its about a pair of agro-businesspeople with massive resources at their disposal. How much do you think they paid their PR firm to get this kind of attention from Newsweek?
The Virtual CFO 06 Aug 06
I agree that you should worry about what you are doing and not the competition. I am building a business and I could care less what the competition is doing. My focus is on serving my company’s customers.
I mentioned this post on my entry today on The Virtual CFO blog(http://virtualcfo.typepad.com/virtual_cfo/) concerning my feelings about this subject.
Thanks for posting about this Business Week article.
runescape money 07 Aug 06
brad 03 Aug 06
Oh and you know how some dogs look like their owners? I think this is a case of a product (the bottle) looking like its owner. The side-by-side photos of Lynda Resnick and her juice bottle are just too similar.
Lol, so interesting you said. :)
Rona Resnick 11 Sep 06
My brother, Stewart Resnick, is an exceptional business man who is the American Dream come true. Our parents were first generation immigrants (dad actually not born in the U.S.) who were not well-off but Stewart worked extremely hard to put himself through the univercity and has continued to do so ever since. Both he and his wife are hard working abd very generous. They may not be perfect but they’re excellent.
mohammad 23 Sep 06
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mohammad 23 Sep 06
hello dear
I am very happy to find your e-mail
I and my team are a economic And researcher group in university and work about Gold market
and try to find (( how can we analyse Gold market)) .we are following to find an inistitue or
news agency to give or send us some analysis in type of signal or economic calender or anything else about gold market. I want to know what is your services. and how can we using ?
thank you
mohammad 23 Sep 06
hello dear
I am very happy to find your e-mail
I and my team are a economic And researcher group in university and work about Gold market
and try to find (( how can we analyse Gold market)) .we are following to find an inistitue or
news agency to give or send us some analysis in type of signal or economic calender or anything else about gold market. I want to know what is your services. and how can we using ?
thank you
mohammad 23 Sep 06
hello dear
I am very happy to find your e-mail
I and my team are a economic And researcher group in university and work about Gold market
and try to find (( how can we analyse Gold market)) .we are following to find an inistitue or
news agency to give or send us some analysis in type of signal or economic calender or anything else about gold market. I want to know what is your services. and how can we using ?
thank you
mohammad 23 Sep 06
hello dear
I am very happy to find your e-mail
I and my team are a economic And researcher group in university and work about Gold market
and try to find (( how can we analyse Gold market)) .we are following to find an inistitue or
news agency to give or send us some analysis in type of signal or economic calender or anything else about gold market. I want to know what is your services. and how can we using ?
thank you